Chapter 4

Rob's POV

I arrived at Emily's hotel room before she did. No doubt she was with Jack though. I'll just wait for her to get back, and then I'll question her.

I sat outside her room with a battered copy of Sports Illustrated for ten minutes before I heard the elevator chime, signaling someone's arrival.

"Robbie? What are you doing here?" Emily asked, shock in her voice and her hand over her heart.

"I didn't mean to scare you," I replied innocently. "I thought we could celebrate. I did just win the national title."

"Not in the most noble of ways," I heard her mutter under her breath as she opened her door. She has this oh so cute habit of thinking I don't hear what she says. But trust me, I do.

"So, what do you say we go out with the guys, get drunk, and party into the wee hours of morning?" I asked, wrapping my arms around her thin waist.

"I'm not in the mood to celebrate," Emily replied shortly, as she pulled her curly brown hair into a ponytail before disappearing into the small bathroom that was adjacent to the main room.

"Would this have anything to do with Jack O'Callahan?" I inquired, albeit snidely.

Emily reappeared in a white sports bra and navy blue track pants. She seemed to be rolling my question over in her mind before replying. "Why would my not wanting to celebrate have anything to do with OC?"

"Oh, I don't know. It could have something to do with your make-out session with him," I shot back. Emily tried to hold an icy glare, but her gray eyes betrayed her. Now she just looked like a puppy who ate a shoe and knew she was in trouble for it. It was actually somewhat heartbreaking to see her looking at me that way, but vindicating, as well.

"Where did you hear that?" she asked in a tone so low, viewing audiences would need to crank up the TV volume.

"Buzzy saw you two," I told her, trying to hide the smile that threatened to spread across my face in victory that I got her to admit to…well whatever was going on between her and O'Callahan. "Not gonna deny it?" I added when she didn't respond.

"I'm not gonna lie to you," she finally stated. "I kissed him twice. It wasn't making out; it was just a simple kiss."

"I thought I'd told you to stay away from him, Emily. That guy is nothing but trouble. I mean, look at what he did to me tonight," I said, raising my voice. I know I cheap shotted the guy, but I doubt she did.

"What he did to you?" Emily asked with a scoff. "He didn't do anything to you. Looked to me like you purposely rammed into him to get him tossed out of the game."

Now it was my turn to be speechless with guilt. I ran a hand through my short brown hair and made myself as comfortable as one can be on the foot of a bed.

"Okay, uncle," I said with a sigh. "Where does this put us?"

"I don't know," Emily muttered, not resigning her post in front of the window.

"Well, what do you want?" I asked, for the first time becoming afraid of her answer. The temperature in the room actually felt like it was beginning to rise. Did I really want to hear what she wanted?

"I don't know," she reiterated, just as nonchalantly as before. "Maybe I want a break. Maybe I want to break up for good. Maybe I don't want to be a guy who doesn't trust me to be around members of the opposite sex because he's completely lacking in the self-assurance department when it comes to women. So he makes up these ridiculous theories about how other guys will hurt me and drop me on my ass the second some bimbo Barbie doll comes walking along. Thanks for that, by the way."

"I never said that!" I reacted. "I would never say that you're not good enough for other guys."

"I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about this need you have to hang onto things that don't exist anymore. Robbie, I loved you, and might always love you. But it's different now; you're different, I'm different. I just think we'd be better off as friends," Emily said in resignation, as she hung her head in hopes of me not seeing the tears that were beginning to break their barrier and fall.

"So, that's it? We've been together since high school, and that's it. We're just gonna break up?" I asked, hoping that I didn't hear her correctly. I truly wanted to believe I had heard her wrong. I didn't want to lose her. No, I couldn't lose her.

"Yeah, I think that's what I'm saying," Emily replied with a slight nod.